kubuntu-desktop should not depend on anacron

[guenther kuenzel]

if a cron is required for kubuntu-desktop than it should depend on (cron|anacron).
with the current dependency it is not possible to remove the anacron package even with an installed cron package.

[Harald Sitter (apachelogger)]

that is a trait shared among all flavors, so I guess this needs a general decision.

from the kubuntu side demotion of anacron from depends on recommends would be fine

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Mirto Silvio Busico (m-busico)]

Installed 12.04 server - added kubuntu-desktop as GUI

Need to scedule backups at specified hours

Not able to uninstall anacron

Disabling anacron (sudo update-rc.d anacron remove) doesn't work because in /etc/crontab is tested the existence of the anacron executable:
25 1 * * * root test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || ( cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.daily )

I need to uninstall anacron but to retain kubuntu-desktop.

[guenther kuenzel (mog71)]

hello silvio,

maybe my workaround will either fit your needs. i created a user based cronjob which starts a user based anacronjob at a specific time. the user needs to be in group "crontab"

$ crontab -l | grep -v ^#

PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
SHELL=/bin/bash

0 3 * * * anacron -t ~/.anacrontab

$ cat ~/.anacrontab
# ~/.anacrontab

SHELL=/bin/bash
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin

1 0 backup.daily sudo backup.sh

greetings

[guenther kuenzel (mog71)]

i have forgotten to mention that if you use a user based cronjob it will be executed at the specific time anyway. only system based (/etc/cron.daily) jobs are executed by anacron at random times. e.g.

$ crontab -l | grep -v ^#

PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
SHELL=/bin/bash

0 3 * * * sudo backup.sh

will do it either.

[Mirto Silvio Busico (m-busico)]

Thanks Guenther

 the machine is used as a server so I needed a system wide solution.

Now I'm testing this workaround:

1) sudo update-rc.d -f anacron remove
2) sudo rm /usr/sbin/anacron

Tomorrow I'll see if the nightly backup went as expected.

I don't know if an update (I mean apt-get dist-upgrade) will restore anacron, but I'll see